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2010-08-14: A Martian, A Mutant And A Cat
Summary: The Martian Manhunter happens upon Catwoman who is having no kind of luck pulling off a job. Zandra becomes a witness. Location: Uptown - Gotham Participants: Martian Manhunter, Catwoman, Zandra Rating: PG It is bordering on late evening when the sky is at its darkest. Or rather it would be if it wasn't for the lights that color it a sickly yellow as it is illuminated from below. Thankfully that doesn't keep shadow from being cast upon the ground, that a fact that one is taking advantage of. Standing in an alleyway while scouting out a place she's about to hit, Catwoman is waiting for the perfect time before she slips into a nearby jewelry store, yet another job that is about to be carried out. Zandra is standing on the curb, arms over her chest as the taxi she was riding in is getting it's tire changed. The taxi guy is appologizng over and over and over again and she waves him off. "It's okay, geeze..it happens..the roads here are crappy.. it ain't yer fault.. just get it fixed so we can get out of here.. " she says as the fellow tries to get the spare tire out of the trunk. As the struggles and street plays of Gotham's night life begin, a single figure floats silently through the sky. Unseen and cloaked from sight, the alien known as the Martian Manhunter hangs in the air. Everyone knows that Gotham is the Batman's turf, and few of his peers care to tread where they are not entirely welcome, but J'onn has nonetheless found himself in most dangerous city in the world. His red eyes pierce through the gloom and fog with ease, and he watches the humans do their nightly dance with interest, until his alien mind hears a fragment of a stray thought, purposeful and confident. Unable to place the vaguely familiar mind behind the thought in the roaring telepathic din of a major city, he floats down lower and closer to the street. Voices is what gets the cat burglar's attention first and for a second she entertains waiting but time is short; having a deadline looming over her head, she doesn't have time to wait for the woman to leave so she hurries with her plan. A small window that faces the alleyway is approached and then cut out from its frame by the use of one of her 'claws', the fragile item falling away. It's unfortunate that it falls inside and shatters upon the floor, causing Catwoman to wince. Maybe she'll get lucky and whoever is close by will take the sound for a bottle that was carelessly thrown by a drunk. As of yet, J'onn's approach is unnoticed. Zandra sighs as she waits and waits a... and what is that? something itches at the back of her mind. An aura.. strong.. very strong. It wasn't there a moment ago.. it's like it just appeared! She glances up, peering up into the sky and squints. "...Whoa.." at least it doesn't feel like that icky creepy evil art stuff from the museum a few nights ago! She can't see the alien in the sky but for the moment during his apparent distraction she can sense something powerful is above. The sound of glass shattering however does catch her attention and she eeps. "Hurry up dude... " she tells the taxi driver. The sound of shattering glass is clear as day to the hovering Martian. It may be nothing; this is Gotham City after all. But J'onn has not survived as long as he has by being careless. He calmly turns in the air to face the direction the sound came from, using his martian senses to scan the area. Walls, shadow, even people: nothing but lead impedes his superhuman vision as he searches for the originator of the sound. Simultaneously, he reaches out with his mind, telepathically probing the minds of those in the area. There's no way Catwoman would be able to defend herself from such probing and would probably have to realize it's happening to be able to do so, leaving her vulnerable to the Martian's scanning. If he's looking for what she's doing he'll find out that she's here to steal one particular diamond the high-end shop has on display. Still not seeing anyone, she shrugs off her small mishap and begins to climb in through the window. Time for this little kitty to get serious. Zandra shivers. This place is creepy! She glowers at the taxi guy who is still fumbling about with tools and the wheel. "Geeze man, should I just got call a tow truck? " she says. The guy mutters something and she shakes her head. She takes a few steps away from the parked taxi and moves towards one of the store fronts. She closes her eyes and allows herself to feel more of the area. Shes' feeling too vulnerable here. And since it's night time there are sure to be less people about to over whelm that aura sight. She frowns, looking towards the store front. Is that some one in there? She steps back, brushing her hair out of her eyes. A jewelry shop? "Mmm.." The Martian Manhunter allows himself a small smile as he spots the infamous Catwoman preparing to pull a heist. He widens his telepathic probe, searching for the inevitable sign of the Batman waiting to foil the scheme, but comes up short. Well, perhaps he shall take care of this one himself. His mind made up, he floats quickly towards the thief, remaining invisible for now. However, the crime has not yet happened, so J'onn takes the chance to perhaps prevent it entirely. He narrows his telepathic focus to concentrate directly on Catwoman, and mentally transmits a short message directly into her brain. As he takes a moment to send this message, he again drops his complete spectrum cloak and remains unseen merely to normal sight. "Wha..." Turning around, Catwoman is fully expecting Batman to be looming in the window but there's sign of the Caped Crusader. "Oh..." Frowning, she takes a bit to make sure this isn't one of his tricks before going back to trying to lift the gem and get the hell out of there. Just as she reaches for one of the glass cases she turns her head the other way, the view affording her a direct line-of-sight of Zandra. Wincing, she draws her hand back and ducks behind a support pillar, muttering darkly under her breath. Seems like someone is experiencing Friday the 13th a day late. Zandra looks back towards the taxi driver, failing to fix the cab. Sigh. She looks up again, feeling the powerful aura appear again, and much much much closer. "... damn, Gotham's haunted too? " maybe she should start carrying salt around with her after all! She knows something is up in the air some where! she just can't see it! She could try harder.. but that might be a bad idea. She glances at the glass shop front and checking out her reflection, before she slicks her hair back into place. And of course she doesn't listen, J'onn notes as he flies toward her. He phases through the walls of the building, coming to a stop just inside the same room as Catwoman. A quick scan with x-ray vision, and he walks around the pillar, dropping his invisibility at the same time. "I asked you to desist, Catwoman," he says calmly. "I have no desire to capture you for the authorities tonight but I will be required to do so should you carry out your plan, so if you would be so kind as to abandon your nefarious goals, then all of us can have a pleasant evening." "Well, look at who is here." J'onn is not someone Catwoman knows outside of perhaps a random newspaper photo here and there but he's not so much of a stranger that she doesn't know he's a bit far from home. "What brings you to Gotham tonight," she purrs softly while reaching down, going for the whip she wears at her hip. The diamond is not forgotten but she can't go for it now, it being left alone. Can come back for it later. "You want to play a game? How about 'cat and mouse'?" Grinning, she begins to run for the door which she crashes through, the large pane shattering after it is breached. Should give Zandra one helluva surprise. . Zandra gets just a hint that some one is rushing through by the slight shadow and the faint human aura energy zooming towards her. But she still screams like a little girl and falls on her rump. "AAAIIIEEEEEE!!!" which of course would be all fine if Zandra was human. But she's not. Frightening a mutant is never a good thing. A moderate level Electromagnetic pulse rushes forth from the blue haired girl, causing all sorts of fun things to happen. Electrical systems are shorted out. Light bulbs burst! The Martian Manhunter watches impassively as Catwoman makes her dash to escape, but he is secretly amused. Does she truly think she can evade him if he were to make a determined pursuit? Although he has never interacted directly with the thief, he has been an associate of the Batman and is certain she has no metahuman abilities. "Stop. Freeze. Hands in the air," he deadpans to himself. And then things start going haywire. He tests his JLA communicator and frowns. It's very well shielded, after all, so this no normal phenomenon. He immediately flies towards the disturbance, phasing through obstacles. He easily catches up to the fleeing burglar, but is less interested in her (she didn't managed to get the diamond, after all) than he is in the woman who appears to be at the epicenter of the electromagnetic disturbance. "Interesting." The fleeing stops about as soon as the scream registers, the one it came from causing Catwoman to come to a halt as soon as she is able to. "Well, that's a first," she quips with a minute chuckle. "Usually it's Batman who gets that kind of reaction." Turning to face the Martian, now, she raises a brow while her arms curl about her midsection in a semi-defensive posture. "Breaking and entering is hardly worthy of your time. So...beneath you." Lifting her chin challengingly, she looks him right in the eye as she adds, "How about letting me go and we'll call it even?" Fortunately for this area of the city it was a short burst, and not one that would go too too far.. but woe to any thing that was caught in it's circular reach. The taxi guy urks as he feels his cell phone pop and fry in his pocket. He shouts a few obscenities as he stands, looking around. He spots Catwoman running. Spots a scary green guy in a cape hovering and then takes off running. Meanwhile Zandra is getting up off the ground, not even bothering to dust herself off "Ow! ..." then she too spots J'onn. "...OMG!" she stares. "...I thought Cthulhu would have more.. tendrils..." she says, just sputtering it out without truly thinking about how silly that is. Blame it on Raz.. and all her ghostly speak! The Martian tilts his head and looks evenly at Catwoman. "I broke nothing, and entered the building for the sole purpose of stopping a robbery in progress. I have nothing to fear from the law. Also, I feel I should note that I intentionally revealed myself. Had I not done so, I could have apprehended you before you were aware of my presence. Your bargaining tactic is flawed. Please choose another." Only those very close to J'onn would register the faint amusement in his otherwise deadpan voice. He resists the urge to grow Vulcan ears, and turns to address Zandra. "I am not Cthulhu, madam. I am a Martian." Snorting, Catwoman looks over towards the storefront and then rolls her eyes. Looks like she'll have to call the one who hired her and ask for an extension on her deadline. "Yes, yes. Fine. How about you go tell Batman. I'm sure he'd appreciate you giving him a heads up and a change to tackle me off of a building again." Painting the Bats in a dark light. Such a fun hobby. Done with addressing J'onn now, she begins to tap her toe, looking wholly impatient. "So what's your story, huh," she asks, that question directed to the screamer. Zandra stares. Just a martian. "...Oh.. well ah.. My.. Misunderstanding.. so..sorry.." she says, still not registering that the taxi guy has run off. She's too busy staring at the Martian and the lady in the black catsuit. With a bull whip. "..feel free to.. continue on ..ah with your.. whatever it is you two are um.. doing.. so not involved..." she says waving her hands and starting to back away. "I come in peace," J'onn assures Zandra dryly. "We were merely having a conversation on the finer points of apprehending criminals. I believe Catwoman was losing the debate, and thus resorted to insulting her primary foe." He smiles faintly. "Surely you are not so sheltered from the unusual or unique as to find this serendipity overly disturbing. You do appear to possess apparently superhuman abilities of your own." "There was no insult," Catwoman explains with a very obvious roll of her eyes. "He literally tackled me off of a roof the other night." While that sounds highly unlikely she's not giving any details, leaving those who care to speculate to do just that. "So what was up with the scream," she asks Zandra a bit more forwardly. "I didn't scare you that bad, did I?" It still has Catwoman amused as she's anything but frightening, especially compared to some of Gotham's more nightmare-inducing villains. Zandra ohs..ums.. "... sheltered no.. but I ain't run into green people yet.. " who have super super super super strong auras which, she doesn't openly admit! " but the whole jumping through the glass kinda threw me.. okay..my bad.." she folds her arms over her chest. "Like you've never been startled?!" and just for spite she magnetically picks up a bottle cap off the ground behind Catwoman and flings it at her. It won't hurt, but with enough power to 'poke' the lady in the back. Unless of course the alien finds a way to stop it before it hits. J'onn has enormous psionic abilities, but telekinesis not one of them. Although he notices the bottle cap, he does nothing to stop it himself, since it wouldn't truly injure anyone. He chuckles quietly at Zandra. "Understandable, certainly. I remember being quite startled the first time I saw a human." Hey, they're aliens to him. "I am called the Martian Manhunter. It's somewhat longer than is practical, but I have found that the press does love codenames. If you come to their attention without one, the situation will be quickly rectified." The thick material that Catwoman's costume is made of keeps the bottlecap from poking but it is felt which causes her to turn quickly to see what was thrown at her, not knowing it was Zandra who did it. "Hmmmph," she grunts, sounding rather Batman-like. Shaking her head, she answers quietly, "I've been startled quite a bit. But still..." Clearing her throat, she gestures vaguely, trying to indicate the lightbulbs which were destroyed. "Did you do that?" Zandra shakes her head. "I have no desire to play superhero..thanks." she smirks but it is not unkind. "But ah..thanks for the warning?" she says to J'onn before shrugging at Catwoman. "What? Just cause I've got blue hair you assume I'm the reason for this destruction? That's getting close to racial profilin' dontcha think?" J'onn chuckles again. "It would be an amazing coincidence if you were not the source," he mentions casually. "Considering that many metahuman abilities, especially those related to controlling energy, can be accidentally triggered by fear or surprise. With the low rate of metagene expression in Gotham City, you are logically the most likely perpetrator. But since I do not believe it was done maliciously or with deliberate intent towards destruction, you have nothing to fear." Catwoman eyes Zandra skeptically but she doesn't say anything, J'onn already having beaten her to the punch as far as pointing that all out which makes her doing the same unnecessary. "Well, as much as I'd like to stay and hold your hand while the alien explains things I should go." Looking at the aforementioned alien, she smirks and waggles a few fingers his way. "Have my babies to feed. Tell Batman hello for me the next time you see him." Not waiting for either of them to return her parting gestures, Catwoman pivots on one foot and begins to run off. Category:Logs Category:Logs